Subject: Brute Force Attacks

Over the past few months we have noticed an increase in brute force attacks directed at our faculty, staff, and students. These attacks are specifically targeted to compromising EIU accounts to gain access to internal resources and data. The impact of these attacks has been noticed as user accounts have been locked repeatedly. While this has been inconvenient for those affected, it has been the one compensating control that is protecting these accounts. ITS is working diligently to provide other security controls that would provide the same level of protection without constantly locking the user accounts. As we roll these solutions out, ITS will keep campus informed of any changes to the current authentication process for systems such as Panthermail and PAWS. 

If your account becomes locked it potentially means that someone has attempted to authenticate to your account unsuccessfully 10 times within 15 minutes. The policy we have in place recognizes this as a brute force attempt and locks your account for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes your account will unlock and be available for you to use again. Please be aware that we have seen some attacks continue to target the same user account over and over again. If after 15 minutes you are still unable to login to your account please call User Services at 217-581-4357 and they can assist you further. 

Thank you.